Today was not a day for being stuck on a short training run – the weather cleared and the pistes were wide, clear of people and extensive. It was time to enjoy the mountain.
Dynamics
Partly for revision and partly for the opportunity to practice we went to work on dynamics. Keeping the feet apart facilitated working on independent leg action. After working on “turn exit” dynamics we attempted to combine the two by using each leg differently. The lower leg was used to come up out of the turn but then to complete the action with a retraction timed at when the upper leg started to push and extend into the next turn. Tony wasn’t quite ready for this but did appreciate not having to worry about keeping the skis together. (Skis only need to be close together for making a two ski platform for pivoting.)
Angulation / Carving
Hip angulation was worked on to prevent Tony from rotating in his turns, to get him coming more over the front of his downhill ski in the transition (related to skating) and to introduce carving. The terrain today was too steep to develop carving but it was fine for introducing the concept and the links with angulation for edging.
Working on angulation revealed the level of tension Tony is dealing with as a legacy from past experience. It was very difficult for Tony to isolate the hip joint and bend there – but this issue revealed itself clearly before the end of the session. We need to generate more relaxation through selective muscle use – and this will certainly come with time and persistence and awareness.
Focus was on the “chi” aspect of angulating from the counter rotation of the pelvis with respect to the turn – pulling the supporting hip back from the front ribs.
All the ingredients are there with Tony – just needs a little bit of exaggeration!
This is what flexible, relaxed angulation can really look like! (OK – she was going fast!)
The Maurienne valley
Le Fornet
Pisaillias Glacier
Val Village
